No. 1 Ivanovic falls hard

Saturday

Jun 28, 2008 at 12:01 AMJun 28, 2008 at 10:11 AM

WIMBLEDON, England -- They're still counting casualties back home, and so when Zheng Jie completed the biggest victory of her career yesterday at Wimbledon, she resisted any temptation to leap or squeal or pump a fist or collapse to the grass in glee.

WIMBLEDON, England -- They're still counting casualties back home, and so when Zheng Jie completed the biggest victory of her career yesterday at Wimbledon, she resisted any temptation to leap or squeal or pump a fist or collapse to the grass in glee.

Instead, she merely cracked a slight smile, hoping her family, friends and fans in China could do the same.

The 133rd-ranked Zheng beat new No. 1 Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 6-4. It was the latest in a series of first-week upsets, and one easy to applaud because Zheng is a native of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, where an earthquake caused death and destruction May 12.

"Of course I hope to make people happy with my win," Zheng said. "I want more people to have their homes, be fine and happy."

Zheng's third-round victory, her first against a top-10 player, meant the earliest exit by a top-ranked woman at Wimbledon since Martina Hingis lost in the first round in 2001.

Ivanovic nearly departed in the second round. Zheng was watching on TV when the Serb won a reprieve Wednesday by skipping a forehand off the net cord to save match point, then rallied past Nathalie Dechy.

"Really lucky," Zheng said. "It gave me more belief, because I see it's very close. I think, 'Maybe I have some chance.' "

Depending on results in the second week of the tournament, the 20-year-old Ivanovic could lose the No. 1 ranking she earned for the first time by winning the French Open three weeks ago.

She was gracious in defeat and said she's still learning how to play on grass.

"Sometimes you need a punch to realize what you have to work on," Ivanovic said. "You have to accept that not every shot you're going to hit is going to be perfect. There are going to be quite a few bad bounces. That's something I found a little bit hard to deal with."

The last American in the men's field, 102nd-anked Bobby Reynolds, lost to Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. Reynolds was the only U.S. male to reach the third round, the worst showing by Americans at Wimbledon since 1926.

"Obviously, it's discouraging," Reynolds said. "I was the last one, and it's only the third round. That's not something we like to tip our hats to."

Three American women remain. Bethanie Mattek, who has never previously won more than one match at a Grand Slam event, advanced to the fourth round by beating 2007 runner-up Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-1.

"This is a pretty amazing feeling," Mattek said. "It was pretty cool being able to beat the finalist last year."

Also advancing was No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova, who can reach No. 1 by making the final. No. 2 Jelena Jankovic can do so by reaching the semifinals.

New Albany teen opens play

Chase Buchanan of New Albany begins play at Junior Wimbledon today with a match against Tadayuki Longhi of Japan. Buchanan, 17, is the No. 14 seed in the 64-player field and is one of four Americans chosen to play in the event.